Getting Started: Researching the Underground Railroad
The Library offers a wealth of historical information on slavery, abolition and the Underground Railroad. In addition to using resources listed on the other pages of this guide, you may also use these to start your research.
- Underground Railroad: An Encyclopedia of People, Places, and OperationsA reference set that includes a listing of passengers of the Underground Railroad and operatives of the railroad (by state).
- Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway (Delaware Department of Transportation)A travel route highlighting sites associated with Delaware's underground railroad history. The formal application to create this byway is also available online at: https://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/3411
- Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad BywayFollow Harriet Tubman's story which begins in Maryland, then passes through Delaware.
- Network to Freedom (U.S. National Park Service)Maps, photos, timelines, research reports and links to historic sites related to the underground railroad.
- Forging Faith, Building Freedom: African American Faith Experiences in Delaware, 1800-1980 (Delaware Historical Society)An online exhibition that explores the early history of Black faith communities in Delaware
Finding Magazine and Journal Articles on the Underground Railroad
Below are a few databases that will provide you with articles written during slavery (primary sources), as well as those written in later periods (secondary sources).
- America: History and Life This link opens in a new window
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Index of scholarly literature covering the history and culture of the U.S. and Canada, from prehistory to the present.
- Black Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Resources for researching the past, present, and future of African Americans, the wider African Diaspora, and Africa itself. Comprised of several cross-searchable component databases.
- Academic OneFile This link opens in a new window
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A premier source for peer-reviewed, full-text articles from scholarly journals and other authoritative sources. Also includes thousands of podcasts and transcripts from NPR and CNN, as well as videos from BBC Worldwide Learning. (Coverage: 1980 --)
- HarpWeek This link opens in a new window
Full-text digital database of Harper's Weekly, the leading American illustrated magazine of its day, covering political, military, social, and cultural stories. (Coverage: 1857-1912)
- Periodicals Index Online This link opens in a new window
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An index to the contents of journals and magazines in the humanities and social sciences, from their first issues through 1995, with links to the full-text of some articles. (Coverage: 1665-1995)
Finding Books and E-Books on the Underground Railroad
- DELCAT Discovery This link opens in a new windowUse to find secondary sources that analyze slavery and abolition. Also includes early printed books written during the slavery era.
- Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive This link opens in a new windowUseful for early printed books and archival materials.
- Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice This link opens in a new windowEarly printed books and archival materials.
- Slavery and the Underground Railroad | UD Special CollectionsA select list of printed books located in the UD Library Special Collections Dept.
- Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection | Cornell University LibraryMore than 10,000 titles, including pamphlets and leaflets, that document the anti-slavery movement at local, regional, and national levels.
- Digital Collections - African American History | Library of CongressIncludes early printed pamphlets and books by African American authors, documents on Slavery and the Courts, audio interviews of former enslaved people, and the papers of Frederick Douglass.
- Documenting the American SouthPrimary source collection with components on “North American Slave Narratives” and “The Church in the Southern Black Community.”
- American Civil War: Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Diaries, letters, and memoirs from over 2,000 authors, written before, during, and after the American Civil War. (Coverage: ranges from contemporary letters and diaries to those published many years after the Civil War).
Newspapers
Newspapers written during the slavery era are valuable primary sources, while current newspapers such as the Wilmington News Journal will provide helpful secondary accounts of the Underground Railroad.
- History Commons This link opens in a new windowIncludes 19th century African American and abolitionist newspapers.
- Black Abolitionist Papers This link opens in a new windowIncludes newspaper articles, manuscripts and other archival materials.
- Chronicling America: Historic American NewspapersDigital newspaper collection covering 1777-1963, although most useful for pre-1924 materials. Also has a directory of American newspapers published between 1690-present.
- Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
A cross-section of newspapers covering political party newspapers at the beginning of the 19th c. to the large dailies that shaped the nation at the centurys end. Mammoth newspapers stand alongside those published by African Americans, Native Americans, womens rights groups, labor groups, the Confederacy, and other select groups. (Coverage: 1800-1900)